Sofa bed with improved seat deck structure



April 30, 1968 A. J. MlKos SOFA BED WITH IMPROVED SEAT DECK STRUCTURE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed June 6, 1966 5m TL ysz'us April 30, 1968 A. J. MIKOS SOFA BED WITH IMPROVED SEAT DECK STRUCTUREl 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed June 6, 1966 April 30, 1968 A. J. MlKos 3,380,082

SOFA BED WITH IMPROVED SEAT DECK STRUCTURE.

Original Filed June 6, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent C) 7 Claims. (Cl. 5-12) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A four section foldable sofa bed of the type wherein the outer bed section is folded over the inner bed section in substantial parallelism therewith in the retracted position of the sofa bed, with a hinge or intermediate bed section being disposed generally vertically between the inner and outer bed sections at the forward ends thereof; and with a head bed section extending generally upwardly from the rearward end of the inner Ibed section. A cushion supporting member is connected to the outer bed section by a plurality of helical springs at one end and the opposite end of the cushion supporting member is connected to the intermediate bed section by a plurality of thin, flat, spring bands, Only the forward and rearward ends of the cushion supporting member are connected to the sides of the outer bed section, so that a soft feel is retained at the side edges of the sofa.

Cross reference to related application This application is a division of Mikos application Ser. No. 555,599, filed lune 6, 1966.

Background of the invention This invention relates in general to an improved cushion support means for a folding sofa bed of the four section type. A problem of the prior art which is solved by the present invention is the provision of means for positively providing a liat surface upon which the loose cushions of the sofa may be seated. In typical prior art constructions, the `bed sections of the sofa 'bed are provided with a link fabric which supports the mattress. When the bed sections are in the fully folded position, the mattress typically extends upwardly through the outer bed section to provide a supporting surface upon -which the loose sofa cushions are seated. This type of cushion support has usually provided a convex surface which is high in the center and low both in the front and the back thereby providing an unsatisfactory non-planar cushion supporting surface. It has been proposed in the past to provide a mattress deck member formed of a suitable fabric, such as canvas, or the like, which is secured between the outer end of the outer bed section and the `link fabric, in an attempt to partially compress the mattress and provide a at cushion supporting surface. The last mentioned prior art construction has not been satisfactory, in that it has usually resulted in a cushion supporting surface which is high at the front edge of the sofa.

Summary The present invention solves the problems of the prior art 'by associating a plurality of thin, flat, hold-down members -with a mattress deck member for compressing the front portion of the mattress to provide a substantially flat or planar cushion supporting surface.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. l is -a fragmentary plan view of a preferred embodiment of the invention, with the sofa bed sections 3,380,082 Patented Apr. 30, 1968 ICC being illustrated in the fully extended bed position, with the mattress removed and with portions of the link network broken away;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing the bed frame structure in a partially folded position, wherein the outer bed section is folded over the inner bed section in substantial parallelism therewith;

FIG. 3 is a view taken generally along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view taken generally along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view illustrating a mattress hold-down member, with certain parts broken away for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 6 is a view taken generally along line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged detail view, partially in section, showing the means by which the mattress deck bail is secured to the other bed section; and

FIGS. 8-l0 are enlarged fragmentary views similar to FIG. 2, and illustrating modifications of the mattress and cushion supporting structure.

Description of the preferred embodiments While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein lbe described in detail a preferred embodiment of the invention and modifications thereof with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplilication of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will 'be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and especially to FIG. 1, the sofa bed of the present invention is provided with a wooden frame, indicated generally at 20, and a folding sofa bed structure 30 is mounted on bed frame 20 by a supporting linkage means indicated generally at 31. Bed structure 30 includes a U-shaped head or rear bed section 32, an inner bed section 33, an intermediate bed section 34, and a U-shaped outer bed section 35 which includes a foot rail 35a; said sections being foldably connected in end-to-end relationship with respect to one another.

As is best seen in FIG. 1, a conventional link fabric or network L has its sides connected to the head and inner bed sections 32 and 33 by helical springs 110 to apply lateral tension to the link fabric, while the rear end of the link fabric L is secured to the end of head bed section 32 by helical springs 111 to provide longitudinal tension in the link fabric. Means are provided for uniformly compressing the mattress to provide a substantially ilat cushion supporting surface, and one embodiment of this means includes a seat deck member 112 which is positioned over the uppermost portion of the mattress, after the outer bed section 35 has been folded into parallelism with the inner bed section. A generally rectangularly shaped wire rod or bail 113 extends around the periphery of the seat deck 112, and the seat deck fabric is folded over to provide a two-ply member (FIG. 4) which is stitched around the wire 113, as is shown at 112a and 112b.

A first cross bar 114 has its outer ends 114a and 114b secured to the upper ends of intermediate bed section 34, as viewed in FIGS. 3 and 4. A second cross bar 115 is positioned below bar 114, and has its outer ends 115a and 115b also secured to the intermediate bed section 34. As is clear from FIG. 4, the fabric of the deck member 112 is looped over cross bar 114 and is stitched at 112e. Means are provided for longitudinally tensioning the seat `deck member 112, and include a plurality of laterally spaced helical springs 116 connected Ybetween the foot rail 35a of outer bed section 35 and the outermost portion of 'wire 113.

Means are also provided for applying a downward compressive force to the front upper corner M' of the mattress M. For this purpose, as best seen in FIG. 6, a plurality of laterally spaced spring bands 117 have an end portion 117a which partially wrap the cross bar 115 when the bed is folded and are anchored to it by studs 119 which impale mating holes 117b in the spring bands and 115e in the cross bar. The other end portion of each spring band has an opening 117C which receives a first end 118a of a wire hook 118, the other end of which is an eye 118b engaging wire 113. The partial wrapping of the spring bands on the cross bar 115 is important so that when the bed is unfolded the spring bands unwrap and relax the tension in the helical springs 116.

As seen in FIG. 7, the corners of the wire 113 of the seat deck 112 are secured to the sides of the bed section 35 by wire hooks 120 which book into holes 35b in said bed section. The seat deck 112 is otherwise unsecured to the sides of bed section 35, and this contributes to the soft feel of the sofa at the opposite ends thereof.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 8-10, the separate seat ydeck member 112 has been eliminated, and the link network L has been extended to the end 35a of the outer bed section, where it is secured thereto by helical springs 116 to longitudinally tension the link network. The link network L includes outer links 121 at its opposite sides,

which have a plurality of spaced indentations 122 along the length thereof that serve to properly align the transverse links connected thereto.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the ends 121a and 121b of link 121 are bent over to defined hooks; and laterally extending helical springs 123 and 124 are connected between link ends 121a and 121b, respectively, and the side of bed section 35 to provide lateral tension in the link network. Additional helical springs 125 and 126, spaced from springs 123 and 124, respectively, are connected between link 121 and the side of bed section 35 to further laterally tension the link network. In the embodiment of FIG. 9, one end of link 121 includes a hook portion 121b the same as shown in FIG. 8, and this end of link 121 is also connected to the side of bed section 35 by springs 124 and 126. The opposite end of link 121 includes a rearwardly inclined portion 121e having a bent over end 121d that defines a hook connected to the side of bed `section 35 by a helical spring 127. Becauseof the inclination of link portion 121e, spring 127 has a component of force which tends to longitudinally, as well as laterally, tension the link network. In the embodiment of FIG. 10, each end of the link 121 includes an inclined portion 121C and a hook portion 121d connected to the side of bed section 35 by springs 127. It is evident from FIGS. 8-10, that in each of these embodiments no springs are provided Crt for substantially the entire length of links.121, so that the soft feel at the ends of the sofa is retained. It will be understood, of course, that spring bands, such as shown at 117, are connected between the link network L and rod 115 to compress the forward edge of the mattress in the embodiments of FIGS. 8-10.

I claim:

1. A sofa bed comprising: a frame; bed structure including pivotally interconnected inner, intermediate and outer bed sections; linkage means supporting said bed structure on said frame for movement between a fully folded position wherein the outer bed section is folded over the inner bed section in substantial parallelism therewith so as to dispose the intermediate section generally upright at the front of the frame, and an extended position wherein each of the sections are disposed horizontally and the bed structure extends forwardly from said frame; mattress deck structure; resilient means securing one end of said mattress deck structure to the outer end of said outer bed section', and a plurality of thin, fiat, spring like, pull down members secured to the opposite end of said mattress deck structure and said intermediate bed section for applying a longitudinal force to said mattress deck structure.

2. A soft bed as dened in claim 1 wherein said pull down members extend at an angle with respect to said mattress deck structure for applying a compressive force to a mattress carried by said bed sections when said bed sections are in the fully folded position.

3. A sofa bed as defined in claim 2 wherein a slender elongate member extends around the 'periphery of said deck structure, and said pull down members extend between said slender elongate member and said intermediate bed section.

4. A sofa bed as defined in claim 3 wherein a rod extends transversely across said intermediate bed section, and said pull down members are connected to said rod.

5. A sofa bed as defined in claim 2 wherein said deck structure is secured to the sides of said outer bed section only adjacent the ends thereof.

6. A sofa bed as defined in claim 2 wherein said deck structure includes a fabric member.

7. A sofa bed as defined in claim 2 wherein said deck structure includes a portion of a link network for supporting a mattress.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,742,653 4/1956 Woller 5-13 X 2,878,490 3/1959 Schneider 5-13 3,277,503 lO/1966 StelTan 5-13 X 3,345,651 10/1967 Fox 5-13 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner. 

